1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to refuse collection vehicles and, more particularly, to novel systems and methods for lifting, dumping, storing, and ejecting refuse.
2. The Background Art
In recent years, the drive toward greater efficiencies has pushed the refuse collection industry toward mechanisms and processes of greater complexity. For example, many municipalities now support the collection of recyclable materials (recycleables) such as metals, plastics, and paper. Increasingly, municipalities are accepting commingled recyclables. This allows a single-compartment collection vehicle to collect recyclable materials. However, non-recyclable refuse must also be collected. Accordingly, different collection vehicles must be used or individual collection vehicles must be arranged to handle recyclable refuse as well as non-recyclable refuse and segregate them.
Another advancement in the collection industry in the use of side loading collection vehicles. Such vehicles increase collection efficiency by reducing the number of crew members and the distance a single manual laborer must travel from the cab to reach the loading area as compared with rear-loading systems. Yet another advancement in the collection industry in the increased use of automated side loaders and standardized collection containers. Automated side loaders are typically equipped with grippers or connecting hardware designed to engage a standardized container of a particular size and shape. After engagement, an automated side loader may lift the standardized container and dump it into a hopper on the collection vehicle. Accordingly, the need for manually dumping the container may be eliminated.
However, many collection routes have a mixture of standardized containers and non-standardized containers. On such routes, it becomes difficult or impractical to dump all of the containers with an automated side loader. Moreover, there may not be a practical method of dumping the non-standardized containers over the high walls of the hopper.
To address these shortcoming, a number of side loaders with buckets or bins for manual loading have been devised. In such designs, a bin may be positioned along the side of a collection vehicle at a height suitable for manual dumping of refuse into it. After receiving refuse manually dumped therein, the bin may be mechanically lifted and dumped into a hopper on the vehicle. Hardware on the outside of the bin may provide a cart tipper allowing standardized containers to be attached to the bin and then dumped into the hopper. Thus, standardized containers may be dumped directly into the hopper while non-standardized containers may be dumped into the bin.
In certain situations, it may be desirable to collect refuse from both sides of a street. Dual bin side loaders (i.e. collection vehicles with an automated bin on each side) are typically, however, too wide to fit within legal limits on vehicle width. Collapsible bins capable of adjusting to fit within the legal limit during transit have proven overly complex.
Current collection vehicles, in general, provide some method or mechanism for removing refuse from the body of the collection vehicle. For example, many collection vehicles use telescopic cylinders to eject the refuse. Telescopic cylinder, however, are problematic. They are costly, difficult to maintain, subject to corrosion and other damage, and often unreliable. Other vehicles use a tilting mechanism to empty the body. However, tilting greatly increases the instability of the collection vehicle during the unloading process, the complexity of unloading stations and procedures, or both. Moreover, when the body is tilted, overhead clearance can also become a problem. This is particularly the case when dealing with recyclable refuse, which is often dumped inside a processing plant.
In view of the foregoing, what is needed is a dual-bin, side-loading, collection vehicle that fits within the legal limit on vehicle width without complicated, collapsible bins. Moreover, what is needed is a dumping system that loads, compacts, and ejects compacted refuse from the body without the use of telescoping hydraulic cylinders or tilting.